Alternative Medicine: Any form of medicine or healing other than the type approved by medical doctors and hospitals.

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Acupuncture: An ancient Chinese medical system over 5000 years old, recently revived in China and becoming popular in the West. It deals with subtle energy flows (chi) in the body related to the cosmic principles of Yin and Yang. The balance of these energies in the human body affects health and disease. Acupuncture therapy alters these energy flows by inserting fine needles at key pressure points, for varying periods of time. Anesthesia for surgery can also be effected by acupuncture.

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Acupressure: A treatment that involves the surface stimulation of acupoints digitally, manually, or with tools held in the hand.

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Vibrational medicine: The expressions "energy healing," "energy work," and "energetic healing work" appear synonymous with "vibrational medicine." Healing philosophy whose main tenet is that humans are "dynamic energy systems" ("body/mind/spirit" complexes) and reflect evolutionary patterns of soul growth. Its postulates include the following. (a ) Health and illness originate in subtle energy systems. (b) These systems coordinate the life-force and the physical body. (c) Emotions, spirituality, and nutritional and environmental factors affect the subtle energy systems. Vibrational medicine embraces acupuncture, aromatherapy, Bach flower therapy, chakra rebalancing, channeling, color therapy, crystal healing, absent healing, electroacupuncture, flower essence therapy, homeopathy, Kirlian photography, laserpuncture, the laying on of hands, meridian therapy, mesmerism, moxibustion, Past-life Regression, Polarity Therapy, psychic healing, psychic surgery, Reiki, sonopuncture, Toning, Transcendental Meditation, and Therapeutic Touch.

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Alexander Method: A means of integrating one's mental, physical, and spiritual aspects. According to its theory, maintaining alignment of the head, neck, and back leads to optimum overall physical functioning. Fredrick Matthias Alexander concluded that faulty posture was responsible for diverse symptoms.

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agyana

without knowledge

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Bodhisattava: A being who has supposedly earned the right to enter into Nirvana or into illumination, but instead voluntarily turns back from that state in order to aid humanity in attaining the same goal. The Christ is said to be a Bodhisattva.

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Attune: To open up bring different psyches into harmony. See also Reiki Attunement.

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Liver: Largest internal organ of the human body. The liver, which is part of the digestive system, performs more than 500 different functions, all of which are essential to life.

Its essential functions include helping the body to digest fats, storing reserves of nutrients, filtering poisons and wastes from the blood, synthesizing a variety of proteins, and regulating the levels of many chemicals found in the bloodstream. The liver is unique among the body's vital organs in that it can regenerate, or grow back, cells that have been destroyed by some short-term injury or disease.

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Avatar: An earthly manifestation of one of the gods in human or animal form, e.g., Krishna is an avatar of Vishnu, Jesus is an avatar of Jehovah. A being through whom God manifests himself. The spiritual founder of an age or a dynasty. Such a one has supposedly progressed beyond the need to be reincarnated.

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Aura analysis: Direct or indirect examination of the vital energy that envelops each human. To some the aura is perceptible others can analyze it through Kirlian photography. The colors of the aura reveal the personal traits of the subject. One can also associate auric colors with glands, organs, organ systems, and psychological states such as anger and boredom.

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Reflexology

Reflexology teaches that every part of the body has a direct line of communication to a reference point on the foot, hand and ear. By massaging these points, reflexologists are helping the corresponding body part to heal itself by stimulating energy in that area.

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Astrology: An ancient system of divination that uses the position of the planets, moon and sun in the twelve Zodiac positions at the moment of one's birth to gain knowledge of the future.

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Aura balancing: (aura cleansing, aura clearing, aura healing, auric healing): Multiform method characterized by treatment of the aura around a person's head or body.

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Chant: Repetition of magical phrases, syllables, or words to produce a desired effect as well as bring the chanter to a deeper meditative state. See also Mantra.

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Intention: In magic and affirmation, the focus of the mind, the sense of purpose that leads to action.

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ahimsa

non-violence, absence of jealousy

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Geomancy: Divination by the earth. A widespread system of divination either by means of designs drawn randomly on the ground with sand, pollen, or other similar powders or by detecting, through calculations and signs, the hidden forces present in the landscape. See also Feng Shui

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ALLOPATHY

the treatment of disease by creating conditions that are opposite or hostile to the conditions resulting from the disease itself; from Greek roots meaning other and disease. Drugs and surgery are allopathic treatments. The term is sometimes used to refer to conventional Western medicine to contrast it with alternative therapies, particularly homeopathy, which is based on like curing like.

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Lungs: A pair of elastic, spongy organs used in breathing and respiration. In humans the lungs occupy a large portion of the chest cavity from the collarbone down to the diapragm a dome-shaped sheet of muscle that walls off the chest cavity from the abdominal cavity.

Air travels to the lungs through a series of air tubes and passages. It enters the body through the nostrils or the mouth, passing down the throat to the larynx, or voice box, and then to the windpipe. In the chest cavity the windpipe divides into two branches, called the right and left bronchi or bronchial tubes that enter the lungs. Although the words breathing and respiration are sometimes used interchangeably, they have distinct meanings.

Breathing is the process of moving oxygen rich air into and out of the lungs. Respiration refers to all of the processes involved in getting oxygen to tissues, including breathing, diffusion of oxygen from the lungs to the blood, transport by the blood, and diffusion from the blood to tissues. Because body cells are constantly using up oxygen and producing carbon dioxide, the lungs work continuously. An adult normally breathes from 14 to 20 times per minute.

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Heart: Hollow muscular organ that pumps blood through the body. The heart, blood, and blood vessels make up the circulatory system which is responsible for distributing oxygen and nutrients to the body and carrying away carbon dioxide and other waste products. The heart is the circulatory system's power supply. It must beat ceaselessly because the body's tissues - especially the brain and the heart itself - depend on a constant supply of oxygen and nutrients delivered by the flowing blood. If the heart stops pumping blood for more than a few minutes, death will result.

The human heart is shaped like an upside-down pear and is located slightly to the left of center inside the chest cavity. About the size of a closed fist, the heart is made primarily of muscle tissue that contracts rhythmically.

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